Hiking the Lycian Way: a too short trip report interspersed with photos
Lycian Way day 0 - Several days actually
Before starting my hike I spend a few delightful days in Fethiye a town on the Mediterranean coast. I meet a great group of British expats on a 12 island boat tour, a couple of other Canadian women, each travelling solo, in the hostel I'm at, and all is sunshine and roses. I find a good trail map and once again clean up my pack tossing out any unnecessary stuff.
 |
| View from my hostel in Fethiye. |
 |
| There are SO many ruins that some, like these Lycian sarcophagi, lie neglected. |
Lycian Trail day 1 - A good start
I start at the ghost town of Kayakoy deserted during the population exchange of 1923, and hike first to Oludeniz, a popular beach and the landing site for the 100's of tandem paragliders that have thrown themselves off of Baba Dag just like James Bond did in Skyfall, and arrive just after 4 pm at Butterfly Valley. I had hoped to leave my pack at the top and hike down for a quick end of the day swim but decide it's too late - I don't want to be coming back up in the dark - and so instead just stop at the campsite on the lip, set up my tent, and then lounge in a hammock and read my book. Camping costs $18/night/person including buffet supper and breakfast. And supper is fantastic, the best Turkish meal I've had yet: soup to start with lemon wedges and chile powder, pasta, rice, hot curried mushrooms, an eggplant dish, two other hot dishes I can't identify, three types of salad, and yoghurt with honey for dessert. YUM. It's my first night in my tent, and, although I'd intended to camp free, in the rough, along the trail, I am very happy here.
 |
| Kayakoy. |
 |
| Oludeniz ... note paragliders. |
 |
| View from my tent at Butterfly Valley. |
Lycian Trail day 2 - Balance in the universe.
I am up early, pack up my tent, eat, and am on the trail at 8 am. By 8:05 I'm lost. It takes ages to find the trail. I am lost again before 9, and again before 10, by which time, even in complete shade, it's so hot sweat is dripping down my face. By 11 I have given up trying to follow the trail and am walking the road to Kabat. I stop for a swim at Kabat beach before starting over watching the trail markers very carefully. The scenery is stunningly beautiful but the trail very challenging with lots of clamboring and climbing. My 10 kg pack is a bit too heavy, my only shoes, my Keens, not really good enough, I get frustrated by how hard it is to follow the trail - having been spoilt by the one in Romania - and it's just too freaking hot. I freely admit that the whole trail is likely spectacular have but I've not passed another person going in either direction in two days and I'm not really having fun. At 4pm, hot, tired, and discouraged, I get to Paradise beach, where I'd intended to stop for the night. A conversation with a German couple, just out for the day, convinces me to keep going in the cooler evening air however, so, after another quick swim, I intend to carry on, but then I waste a whole hour trudging back and forth in my pack fruitlessly looking for the next section of trail and eventually give up and turn around. At 6 pm, as the sun is setting, there is still sweat dripping down my face and I have no regrets about quitting.
 |
| Typical view... |
 |
| Day 3, hiking back out of the wilderness, I wear my coolest if somewhat inappropriate clothing. |
Final thoughts...
I'm sure the Lycian Way is fantastic: it goes past mountains, beaches, tiny villages, cities, and ruins of all ages. It is a challenging rocky trail with great vistas. But for me, right now, with a pack too heavy, shoes not quite good enough, no hiking partner and no sign of anyone else on the trail... in 30 degree heat... with all the trouble I've had following it... I have no regrets about starting out, and no regrets about not continuing on.
Having failed at completing the Lycian Way, I decide to take a break from my vacation, and, after visiting Dalyan, a town on a delta by a beach where 500 loggerhead turtles lay eggs each year, I retreat to Bodrum Ecofarm, in the middle of nowhere, to sit and read and relax and plan what to do next...
 |
| Lycian tombs at Dalyan. |
 |
| Dalyan boat trip through the delta. |
 |
| Rescued baby turtle who didn't make it to the sea being nurtured in a tank for a few days before being released. |
